Stamp duty break boosts demand

Estate agents and mortgage lenders are already reporting surges in demand from prospective first-time buyers after the Government's announcement of a two-year stamp duty holiday for them.

It means a tax saving of up to £2,500 for genuine first-time buyers on property worth up to £250,000.

Easter is traditionally one of the busiest weekends for homebuying.

Phil Cliff, mortgage director at Santander, says last year's stamp duty holiday on properties worth up to £175,000, which ended on December 31,
stimulated the market. He expects the latest move on stamp duty to have a similar effect.

'We have been calling for change in this area to help genuine first-time buyers,' says Cliff.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive at the National Association of Estate Agents, agrees the move is positive.

He hopes the paperwork required to prove that first-time buyers have not owned a property before will not be too onerous.